Precious Moments
by Anjelik
Summary: Some moments were just too precious to let go without capturing them. Gibbs had learned it the hard way. Gibbs/Tony/Abby - father/kids and brother/sister relationships.


Precious Moments

"Abby," Tony pleaded, "I don't really think this is a good idea."

The black haired Goth giggled at Tony's attempt to chicken out of their little deal. "Don't tell me you are afraid, Tooooooony."

He gave her a sour look before turning his attention back to the street in front of him. It was early Sunday morning, so not a lot of people were up and about outside, which was quite alright by Tony. The less people to witness his embarrassment from hell, the better. And to think it all began so innocently. He sighed and remembered how he got into this situation.

/\/\/\/\/\

"_Can you actually believe the guy tried to escape us on his bike? I mean, how desperate can you get?"Tony was happily summarizing the day's events to his favorite forensic scientist, just like he did each time they managed to wrap up a case, especially when it entailed something the senior agent thought to be very funny. This time he didn't get the reaction he was waiting for, instead of laughter or acknowledgement of how stupid it was to try to outrun a speeding federal agency car on a run down bike, he got a tilt of her to one side and a curious look on her face._

"_You don't think a bike can be fast? Ever watch Tour De France?"At his disbelief she hopped on her desk and pointed at her chest with pride. "You, my dear, are looking at the former local road devil, guilty of running over Mrs. Patterson's garden gnome which resulted in breaking his neck, and never being caught. How's that for fast disappearance?" _

"_The next thing you'll be telling me is that you were in a gang and causing mayhem on the streets," Tony laughingly responded, not even considering it to be true. Abby in a gang? No way. _

"_Hey! I WAS in a gang! "Abby huffed in irritation. "And I was their leader! We even had matching caps with skulls on them!"_

_Tony chuckled at the mental picture of little Abby with a skull cap on her head and racing through the streets with her band of merry…kids? The forensic scientist noticed he still didn't believe her and quickly made a decision. Straightening up, she locked gazes with him, her face all business._

"_I hereby challenge you to a bike race! I'll show you that Abby Scuito on a bike isn't to be taken lightly!"_

_She poked a finger into his chest for emphasis, but was surprised when he suddenly tensed and looked anywhere but at her. Ha, he was already regretting ever messing with her. Not that she blamed him; she was after all a devil on wheels. _

"_You afraid, buster?" She asked smirking, but was surprised to see his face redden and his hands play with the hem of his tie. _

"_Tony, what is it? Is something wrong?" _

_Tony looked uncertainly at her, not sure if he could reveal his little secret to the Goth. But this was Abby; she would never betray his trust and make fun of him behind his back. Of that he was sure._

_He looked around the room suspiciously, to make sure nobody was in vicinity to overhear what he wanted to say. He was marginally calmer when he saw there was no Gibbs behind him, or McGee under the table or anything. _

_He took a deep breath and let it out. "I don't know how to ride a bike."_

_Abby blinked at him, understanding what he was telling her, but not _understanding _it…huh, her head was not making sense._

"_Come again?"_

_Tony looked down at the floor and murmured, "I don't know how to ride a bike." _

"_No, no, I understood that! It's just…why?" _

_If he wasn't so embarrassed he would have taken pride in having had rendered Abby speechless, but as it was, he wasn't even able to meet her eyes. _

"_I, well," he began nervously, "when I was a kid, my father refused to buy me a bike, saying it would be a waste of his money and my time, that could be devoted to more, uh, representative activities, like playing the piano." He paused, remembering the pleading, begging and crying he had done, but nothing helped. His father was unrelenting and as a punishment for his whining, as he put it, he doubled his piano lessons. And even after so many years, his fingers still ached when he remembered. He instinctively flexed his hand._

"_Then when I went to Rhode Island Military Academy…I was embarrassed to admit it to anyone. I mean, what 13 year old boy didn't know how to ride a bike?" He gave a little chuckle at that, guess he ended up as a way over 30 year old man who didn't know how it was done._

_Abby gave him a sad look and hugged him with all her might. _

"_I am so sorry Tony, "she mumbled into his shirt and he gave her a squeeze in return. He really didn't deserve a friend like Abby, who was always there and never seemed to get tired of him, like so many before her. _

_Suddenly she drew away and looked at him with sparkling green eyes. _

"_I have an idea!" _

And that's how he found himself in the situation he was at the moment. He really should have stayed quiet. He balanced the bike under him and looked pleadingly at his Abby, who was standing a couple of feet away from him, camera in her hands, ready to take pictures. "Abs! What's the camera for?"

"For taking pictures, silly!"She smiled, jumping up and down on the spot in obvious delight.

"I don't want pictures! You'll just show them to McGee or something," Tony replied sullenly, crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the bike, which was the cause of all his annoyance at the moment. He was too old for this.

The forensic scientist ignored his brooding attitude and snapped a picture of him sitting on the bike, feet still firmly planted on the ground. "Lighten up, Tony, and give me a big, charming DiNozzo grin!"

He stuck out his tongue instead and got a headslap in return, but not before Abby could take a picture.

"What was that for, boss?" he complained while rubbing the back of his head in an exaggerated gesture.

Gibbs gave him his patented "play-dumb-and-risk-another-headslap" glare "and Tony quickly changed the subject; it was still too early for Gibbs to have had more than one coffee, better not to piss him off. "I still don't understand what you're doing here, boss."

"I came to laugh." Gibbs deadpanned, but there was amusement in his eyes that he couldn't quite hide behind the gruff marine exterior. Somehow, that made Tony a little bit happier about the whole situation. The older man was a very private man, who rarely showed true happiness and even a slight quirk of his lips was an achievement, even if the amusement was at his expense…

"Hey! There will be no laughing! Tony will manage just fine, "Abby defended him before Tony could even open up his mouth to respond to Gibbs' statement. Even though, it was kind of her responsibility, since it was Goth that had dragged the older man along with them. He still didn't know how she'd managed to convince the ex-marine, but that was Abby for you.

Tony once again peeked down at the bike under him. It seemed like such a shabby and unstable thing. How could it even stand upright? It was against all law of physics; it just had two wheels! Not to mention the design…

"Abs, couldn't you have found a…slightly different model for me?" The bike was black, obviously, since it was Abby's; there were white skulls all over the thing and a spiky collar was dangling from the head tube. But that still wasn't the problem, a little dog collar he could handle; the little white basket with daisies sticking out of it, he could not.

Abby didn't seem to appreciate his sentiment though; she put her hands on her hips and gave him a glare. "There is nothing wrong with my bike! It's very hip and stylish!"

"I'm not saying it isn't, Abs, but I would like something more…uh, manly?"

Abby smiled guiltily at him. "Well, I did try asking around a bit. But it was hard without arousing suspicion, you know? You do work with investigators. Timmy started asking all these questions and you know how I can't lie to the face, so I ran away. Then I tried Ducky…but he still has one of those old vintage models, he inherited from his grandfather! You wouldn't want to be caught dead in it, "Abby rambled, "and then I asked Gibbs, but he didn't want to give his becau-"

"But boss! Have a heart, look at the basket!" Tony cut in, pointing to the miniature flower garden growing in the little white bin.

Gibbs gave him a wry little smile."You sure you want it, DiNozzo?"

Tony furrowed his brows in confusion, there had to be a catch in there somewhere.

"Because the only bicycle I have at home is a pink tri-cycle. Wanna go for it?" Tony's first thought was, "hey, at least it had more than two wheels", but he quickly dismissed that line of thinking. Then came the second realization, to whom the bicycle formerly belonged, and Tony could have kicked himself. Gibbs surely had taught his daughter how to ride a bike once upon a time; probably even at the same place they were at, because the older man was the one to choose it, after all. It must have been very hard and painful for him, to come with them and dredge up painful memories. And what was he doing? Whining because the bike wasn't to his liking, and making it worse for Gibbs with insensitive questions.

"You should give it a go, Tony," Gibbs' quiet voice brought him out of his guilty thoughts and Tony quickly raised his head to meet the older man's eyes. There was no anger in the blue eyes, as he thought there would be. The eyes were warm and encouraging. They were saying everything Gibbs himself couldn't voice aloud, "Go and make me proud." It was the gaze that had Tony fighting, whether it was against the damn plague or his own insecurities.

Too overwhelmed to actually say anything, Tony just swallowed the lump in his throat, nodded and squeezed the handlebars tighter with his hands. Abby quickly jumped to his side, sensing he was ready to give the bike a chance and put the helmet on his head before he had an opportunity to refuse it, just in case. She put a hand on his shoulder, so as to steady him if he had problems with his balance.

Gibbs watched with pride as Tony, with Abby's firm grip on his arm, started pushing the pedals and crossing the empty street. He was a little bit shaky and lost his balance from time to time, but the Goth was always there to give him a helping hand. Gibbs was reminded of the time he had taught Kelly how to ride a bike, and how delighted she had been when she had crossed her first distance without her daddy's help. How proud he had been. Precious moments like that had been very few and far between with his daughter; his job had made sure of that. He wouldn't let it be the case this time.

His musings were interrupted by a sudden crash; Tony had somehow lost his balance and took Abby down with him. He was already halfway across the street when laughter reached his ears. He stopped and watched as Tony pushed aside the bike, his helmet covering almost his entire face, and lay back on the ground, joining Abby in her laughter.

Gibbs smiled faintly and noticed Abby's camera lay abandoned a couple of feet away from him. He quickly made a grab for it and took a picture of "his kids" poking each other and having a hell of a great time. Some moments were just too precious to let go without capturing them. Gibbs had learned it the hard way.

"Hey, boss! Um, a little help here?"

"Gibbs! Tony's dragging me down with him!"

Kids...His kids.

The End

A/N

Like it? Not? Please, do tell :) I check my mail every 10 minutes to see if I got any review…they really make me veeeeery happy!

Don't worry, I'm working on Life As a Habit…just needed a bit fluff, hope you don't mind.


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